Gross international reserves fall to US$5.9 billion - Dr Ernest Addison

The Bank of Ghana has said Ghana’s gross international reserves fell to US$5.9 billion as of the end of February 2023.

It is enough to provide import cover for 2.8 months, the Governor, Dr Ernest Addison, told journalists at the central bank’s monetary policy committee meeting on Monday, March 27, 2023.

He said: “For the year 2022, the overall balance of payments recorded a deficit of US$3.6 billion”, noting: “The capital and financial account recorded a net outflow of US$2.1 billion (2.9 percent of GDP), mainly on account of lower FDI flows and significant portfolio reversals”.

These, Dr Addison noted, together with the current account deficit of US$1.5 billion (2.1 per cent of GDP), resulted in the deficit of the overall balance”.

“As a result, Gross International Reserves for 2022 declined by US$3.5 billion to US$6.2 billion. Net International Reserves, which adjusts Gross reserves for the Heritage and Stabilization funds as well as other encumbered funds also declined by US$3.7 billion to settle at US$2.4 billion by December 2022”, he reported.

Dr Addison indicated: “Gross international reserves further declined to US$5.9 billion at the end of February 2023, providing cover for 2.8 months of imports of goods and services. However, Net international reserves improved to US$2.6 billion, reflecting a slight decline in encumbered funds”.